About Us

Our Vision

We envision the global peace field transforming from today's fragmentation—where organizations work from different definitions of peace—into a coherent system where all peace practitioners understand how their specific contribution builds toward shared conditions for peace worldwide.

Our Mission

We work to develop and disseminate a cohesive global theory of change for peace that helps peace organizations understand exactly how their work fits together—transforming thousands of isolated efforts into coordinated action for lasting peace worldwide.

The Problem We Address

After a century of building peace institutions, the field still lacks agreement on what peace actually is.

This isn't an academic oversight—it's why peace efforts remain fragmented, why billions in funding produce limited lasting change, and why progress stays reversible.

Without shared foundations, even well-funded initiatives work at cross-purposes.

IGP addresses this at its source by developing the meta-level theory of change and definitional framework that the field has been missing.

Our Approach

We work at the meta-level—developing theory that makes all peace practice more effective. Through rigorous interdisciplinary research grounded in consciousness studies, we've created a measurable, cross-cultural framework that defines peace as the optimal social conditions for sentient flourishing.

We don't implement programs or coordinate organizations directly. We provide the conceptual infrastructure that makes local, national, and international coordination possible.

Our Theory of Change

Real transformation comes not from adding more programs, but from helping existing efforts understand their interconnection.

Our framework shows organizations exactly how their outputs contribute to peace conditions, enabling the field to move from isolated interventions to cumulative impact.

We measure success not by what we do directly, but by how much more effective everyone else becomes.

Our Values

Intellectual Rigour

Our frameworks must be both philosophically sound and practically applicable. We ground our work in peer-reviewed research and empirical validation.
Collaborative Development

We develop frameworks through constant dialogue with practitioners. Theory without practice is sterile; practice without theory is blind.
Generational Thinking

We're preparing intellectual foundations for institutional transformations that may take decades. Patient work now enables lasting change later.
Transparent Impact

We document our progress, share our research openly, and acknowledge our limitations.

Our Evolution

The Institute for Global Peacecraft evolved from the Peace and Conflict Science Institute (PACS) in 2025. This transformation reflects a strategic refocusing: from broad peace research to developing the specific theoretical foundation to harmonise global peacecraft.

The shift came from recognizing that adding another organization to the thousands implementing peace programs wouldn't address the structural problem. The field needed conceptual infrastructure, not more implementation.

Leadership

Anders Reagan
Founding Director

Anders Reagan founded IGP after recognizing a fundamental gap in the peace field: despite a century of institution-building, no one had rigorously developed a global theory of change, including defining what peace actually is. His response was to introduce the sentience-based framework in “Reframing the Ontology of Peace Studies.” This work represents an attempt to identify characteristics of peace common to all typologies of peace, including negative peace, positive peace, inner peace, ecological peace, etc.

This breakthrough emerged from Reagan's unusual trajectory through both academic theory and field practice. His formal training spans philosophy (BA, Stockholm University), international relations (BA, Stockholm University), human rights (MA, Uppsala University), and international peace studies (MA, UN-mandated University for Peace). But the framework's real foundation came from wrestling with a persistent question: Why do technically sound peace interventions so often fail to create lasting change?

Working with grassroots organizations in Mexico, Geneva, and Sweden, and studying how different philosophical traditions conceptualize peace, Reagan identified the root cause: not lack of effort or resources, but definitional incoherence and the absence of a harmonising global theory of change. Organizations couldn't coordinate effectively because they were working from fundamentally different assumptions about what peace is and how to achieve it.

The sentience-based framework addresses this by exploring what the field has lacked—a rigorous, measurable definition that works across cultures while respecting diverse approaches. Under Reagan's leadership, IGP is transforming this theoretical breakthrough into practical infrastructure for the entire peace field.

Location

Stockholm, Sweden

IGP operates from Stockholm, a city with deep credibility in peace research and sufficient independence from major power dynamics. Sweden's tradition of neutrality and strong research institutions provide the intellectual ecosystem and political space necessary for foundational work.

Contact Us

Governance

IGP operates as an independent research institute under Swedish nonprofit law. Our governance structure ensures both intellectual freedom and accountability, enabling rigorous research while maintaining practical relevance.

Financial Transparency

Our funding comes from:

Foundation grants for research and theory development
Government and multilateral grants for specific initiatives
Individual donors supporting long-term transformation
Consulting on framework implementation

We refuse funding that would compromise our independence or strategic focus. Financial reports are available upon request.

Our Commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals

This is our core contribution. We provide what's been missing: a rigorous definition of peace, frameworks for measuring it, and understanding of how different interventions contribute to it. Our sentience-based framework transforms how institutions understand peace—not just as absence of violence but as presence of conditions enabling flourishing. This conceptual infrastructure enables the institutional transformation the field needs.
Our entire approach operationalizes SDG 17. The framework itself is a partnership tool—showing organizations how their work interconnects through peace conditions. When groups see these connections, collaboration emerges naturally. We don't broker partnerships; we provide the conceptual infrastructure that makes partnership inevitable. Organizations using our framework report new collaborations with previously unconnected sectors.
Our sentience-based framework reveals health as more than absence of disease—it's the presence of conditions enabling flourishing. By mapping how structural violence, trauma, and systemic injustice undermine both mental and physical wellbeing, our framework helps health organizations understand their work as peace work. When trauma healing programs see their connection to economic development, and public health initiatives understand their role in preventing conflict, health interventions become more strategic and sustainable.
We're developing frameworks for global peace education that teach measurable competencies rather than vague aspirations. Our approach helps educators understand how their work creates foundational peace conditions—critical thinking prevents manipulation, empathy reduces othering, systems awareness enables collaboration. When education systems adopt our framework, they produce citizens equipped for peacecraft, not just informed about conflict.
Our framework identifies gender-based violence and inequality as fundamental violations of peace conditions. By showing how patriarchal structures create systemic violence that ripples through all social systems, we help organizations understand gender work as foundational peace work. The framework reveals why peace processes without gender transformation inevitably fail, and why gender equality initiatives strengthen all other peace efforts.
Our framework reveals inequality as a fundamental violation of peace conditions. When resources, opportunities, and power concentrate among few while many lack basic conditions for flourishing, violence becomes structurally embedded. Our sentience-based approach shows how inequality undermines peace at every level—creating resentment, limiting potential, and perpetuating cycles of violence. By mapping these connections, we help development organizations understand inequality reduction as peace work, and help peace organizations recognize that lasting peace requires addressing systemic disparities. The framework shows why peace without equity inevitably fails.
Climate breakdown creates conditions incompatible with peace—resource scarcity, forced migration, intergenerational injustice. Our framework maps these connections explicitly, showing climate action as conflict prevention. When environmental organizations understand how their work prevents future violence, and peace organizations see climate as a peace issue, both become more effective.
Our sentience-based framework extends beyond human flourishing to encompass ecological systems. Marine ecosystem collapse threatens the livelihoods of billions, creating conditions for conflict. By showing how ocean health connects to human peace conditions—through food security, economic stability, and cultural preservation—we help organizations understand marine conservation as peace work.
Land-based conflicts—over resources, territory, and sovereignty—constitute many modern conflicts. Our framework reveals how ecological degradation, deforestation, and biodiversity loss create peace-incompatible conditions. When conservation organizations understand their role in preventing conflict, and peace organizations recognize ecological integrity as essential for lasting peace, new collaborations emerge.